Trump Transition

President-elect Trump has made at least three more selections for top-level jobs. Gen. John Kelly is his pick to head the Department of Homeland Secretary. Trump has also chosen Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt to head the EPA and Iowa governor Terry Branstad to be the U.S. ambassador to China. Pruitt’s selection will cause liberals the most heartburn. As the attorney general of his state, he has led the fight »

North Carolina governor Pat McCrory has conceded defeat in that state’s governor’s race. The margin of defeat was razor thin — about 4,000 votes out of 4.2 million cast — and McCrory raised questions about voter fraud, especially in Democrat-leaning Durham County. McCrory still believes there were irregularities. However, he says he’s satisfied that a majority of voters favored his opponent, Roy Cooper the state’s attorney general. Given the closeness »

That’s Rush Limbaugh this morning, giving a nice shout out to my post yesterday on “The Machiavellian Trump.” Here’s a bit of the transcript: So last night I got an email from a buddy who had an observation, and I had been thinking about it, too, but it was not in the front of my mind, the top of my mind consciousness. But it’s a random thought that I’d had »

As Steve noted earlier, Donald Trump met today with Al Gore to talk about climate change: Former Vice President Al Gore said Monday he had a “productive” meeting with Donald Trump, calling it “an extremely interesting conversation.” Gore, a leading voice on the dangers of climate change, met with the president-elect at Trump Tower in New York City and spoke briefly to reporters afterward. He categorized the meeting as a »

It is now being rumored that president-elect Trump is considering Jon Huntsman for Secretary of State. This rumor strikes me as more shocking than the rumor — now more than that — Trump was considering his nemesis Mitt Romney for that job. In other words, the Huntsman rumor is probably rooted in fact. The incongruity of a Huntsman selection is based on more than just the former Utah governor’s harsh »

Like nearly all conservatives I know, I’ve been impressed by most of Donald Trump’s selections for key posts in his administration. Jeff Sessions, Mike Pompeo, Tom Price, Gen. James Mattis, and Nikki Haley all seem like excellent choices. Trump hasn’t yet selected a head for the Department of Homeland Security. Under current conditions, this job is as important as any in the administration. One of the frontrunners is said to »

This has been rumored for a while, but still: Donald Trump continues his winning streak with the appointment of General James Mattis as Secretary of Defense: Mattis, 66, is a Marine Corps general who retired in 2013 after serving as the commander of the U.S. Central Command. His selection raises questions about increased military influence in a job designed to insure civilian control of the armed forces. The concerns revolve »

The Washington Post reports that Donald Trump has picked retired Marine Gen. James Mattis to be secretary of defense. Team Trump has not confirmed this report. Gen. Mattis retired from the military four years ago. Under federal law, defense secretaries must not have been on active duty in the previous seven years. Thus, Congress will be called on to grant an exception for Gen. Mattis, as it did for General »

The Associated Press reports that President Obama has decided to back off on anti-Israel moves in the wake of President-elect Trump’s victory: President Barack Obama has nearly ruled out any major last-ditch effort to put pressure on Israel over stalled peace negotiations with the Palestinians, U.S. officials said, indicating Obama will likely avoid one last row with Israel’s government as he leaves office. Frustrated by the lack of progress, Obama »

Donald Trump’s selection of Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education has met with considerable praise from conservatives, and for good reason. She has been excellent on school choice issues. However, the Secretary of Education is not in much of a position to affect school choice policy. Perhaps DeVos will help persuade some Republicans at the state and local level to be less resistant to school choice. Other than that, I’m »

I have been saying for a long time that, while our current legal immigration system poses intractable problems, illegal immigration is relatively easy to solve: we only need to enforce our existing laws. Donald Trump’s appointment of Jeff Sessions as Attorney General signals that he intends to do just that. Politico belatedly tumbles, apparently, to what is going on: “Immigration-hardliner Sessions could execute crackdown as AG.” If confirmed as Trump’s »

The buzz phrase “drain the swamp” has been overused in recent days, I think. However, it applies nicely to the Department of Labor. For decades, the DOL has been a bog of oppressive regulations which, among other things, sometimes promote racial discrimination in favor of minorities. Elaine Chao presided over that swamp for eight years during the George W. Bush administration. She did little to drain, or even disturb, it. »

In the run-up to this year’s election, when I thought Hillary Clinton would win, I speculated about what a post-Trump GOP would look like. It seemed to me that the Party might settle on a synthesis that mixed two doses of traditional conservatism with one dose of Trumpianism. Based on Trump’s early moves, especially his appointments, it looks like this might be the formula. Except I’m not sure about the »

Donald Trump has nominated Rep. Tom Price to head the Department of Health and Human Services. You can tell it’s a great pick by the Associated Press headline: “Trump picks Price as HHS secretary; Democrats blast choice.” Price is an orthopedic surgeon and a leading critic of Obamacare. As a Congressman, he has devoted a great deal of thought to how Obamacare can best be repealed and partially replaced. That »

The climatistas just can’t help themselves. Amidst the wailing and gnashing of teeth on the left since Trump’s triumph, the environmentalists have wailed the loudest. We’re doomed! One climatista, University of Arizona emeritus professor Guy McPherson, is predicting that humans will go extinct in just ten more years: The University of Arizona emeritus professor says in 10 years, humans will cease to exist. Abrupt rises in temperature have us on course »

It has become clear that, at least until Donald Trump nominates a Supreme Court Justice (and quite possibly beyond that point), congressional Democrats intend to make opposition to Sen. Jeff Sessions’ nomination as Attorney General the centerpiece of their early resistance to the new president. The talking point you will hear and read about the most is alleged racism by Sen. Sessions. However, the true reasons for the opposition are »

If, as is often said, personnel is policy, the Trump administration may prove more impressive than many conservatives expected. His nominations so far have been outstanding. The latest is his choice of Betsy DeVos to head the Department of Education. DeVos is a school choice activist who puts the interests of children first–especially inner-city children–rather than the interests of teachers’ unions. The New York Times, intending to express outrage at »